The Five “Must-Have" Features for Private Networks

Drivers of Private Cellular Networks

5G is about more than smartphones. It’s about smart factories, smart cities, and even smart cars. These applications, and others like them, are driving the need for private cellular networks. Private cellular technologies such as LTE, 5G and CBRS help enterprises achieve the low-latency, high-performance connectivity they need for advanced automation processes required by smart applications, making cellular the connectivity mode of choice. These networks will provide the speed, performance, and security that enterprises need for next generation of 5G applications.

Traditional Wi-Fi networks can’t meet the demands for the wireless applications of the future. As manufacturing companies look to Industry 4.0, for example, they’ll need 5G technology to support applications such as high-resolution video capturing of defects during the manufacturing process. Without a private cellular network, manufacturers would need to rely on high-speed fiberoptic connections for each device or sensor, which is expensive and requires manual reconfiguring as devices are added or updated. Oil and gas companies can also benefit from private 5G networks as they look to process vast amounts of data for logging and analysis.

Most enterprises have little experience in deploying and managing a private cellular network. For this reason, they need a trusted partner that can deliver the right mix of security, performance, and be cost-effective while meeting specific service level agreements (SLAs). And this is where mobile service providers (MSPs) can help. By partnering with their MSP, enterprises can quickly stand up their own private 5G/CBRS network or consume private 5G network as a service, offered on cloud like Azure.

But how do you know which private cellular network partner is right for your business? When selecting a private mobile network service provider, you should weigh these five key features in your decision-making process: